Current Boom in Crypto-Currency

The current boom in crypto currencies is something that has attracted a lot of attention with investors, lawmakers, and the media, and that is being hotly debated. There are so many cryptocurrencies to choose from, and there are so many different online (and offline) wallets and exchanges that it can be bewildering to get started.

While Bitcoin is the most well-known, there are others that are growing in popularity (such as Dogecoin, which is popular on Reddit, and that is getting some use amongst gamers). In the short term, however, it is unlikely that anything will surpass Bitcoin in popularity.

The recent cryptocurrency boom means that you can now use your bitcoin for a whole range of different things in day to day life. There are machines in some airports that will convert your foreign currency into Bitcoin (ideal if you have a lot of loose change in a foreign currency that you don’t want to pay a high exchange rate to change back), and you can also spend Bitcoin online with a huge number of retailers – for example you can buy pizza online with Bitcoin, and there are even some discount stores such as Cex that will buy hardware or phones for Bitcoin, and you can make purchases using it too.

There is still a perception that crypto currency is something that people use for illegal purposes, but that is unfair and untrue. Cryptocurrencies have a lot of use, particularly in war-torn countries or those with political unrest or regime oppression. They allow people to buy and sell things in private – and not always for illicit reasons. They also allow people to trade in a currency that is universally recognized. If you’re an aid worker, for example, you may not have currency for the country you’re operating in. Bitcoin does not know any borders.

The current boom in cryptocurrency means that the value of bitcoin and many of the others is quite volatile. It means that when you buy Bitcoin you don’t know what it will be worth the next day – or even a few hours from now. This can be good for people who are speculatively investing in the currency, but it can be bad news for those who are looking to save up money in Bitcoin or those who cannot afford the short term loss that might come with a bad day for the online currency market.

You can mine your own crypto currency – and there are even online distributed miners that you can rent to earn currency that way. Margins on this are thin, and it is harder now to make money than it was a few years ago – but the potential to make a profit is still there, and if you have the right devices and the right cards then why not give it a shot. Just make sure that you secure your wallet so that you don’t end up losing the coins you mine! Remember, though, that if you’re mining at home then you will need to pay for the electricity that your computer uses, and for the wear and tear on the graphics cards. If you live somewhere which has relatively high costs for electricity then you could actually lose money trying to mine for a cryptocurrency unless you use very low power consumption machines that are made specifically for the purposes of mining for bitcoins. For many people, mining is a false economy and it makes more sense to just trade or work for it like you would for normal money.